


Don't Dream It's Over

by kittenCorrosion



Series: Mileven Week  2016 [4]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: F/M, PROM WOOT, This is set four years later when they're sixteen, it's so fluffy I'm gonna die, mike wants her to be his girlfriend but he hasn't stopped being awkward lol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-15
Updated: 2016-11-15
Packaged: 2018-08-31 03:58:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,501
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8562979
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kittenCorrosion/pseuds/kittenCorrosion
Summary: Four years after Mike first meets El, they go to their Junior Prom. More than anything Mike wants to tell El how he feels and how he wants to make what they have official, so he does. Mileven Week Day 5 (December 2nd)"Song for Snowball"





	

**Author's Note:**

> alrighty i really loved how this turned out so i just decided to post it. i've kinda decided to screw waiting and just start posting stories once i feel they've been edited enough. i actually got the google docs app for my phone so i can edit and write on the go. ugh.
> 
> since in my headcanon they missed the snow ball, i decided to fast forward to another dance that would be important. the song i choose isn't one that immediately screamed "mileven!" at me, but it's one i've grown up listening to and i think it fits. i skipped the second verse tho lol.
> 
> comments are my fave btw

1987

Mike was pretty sure he had sweat all the way through his cummerbund. Collapsing into a metal folding chair, he reached behind him and managed to pull the damn silk waistband off, throwing it onto the table with the rest of his friend’s belongings. He almost moaned in relief as air finally reached his waist, cooling him down several degrees in an instant.

It sure as hell hadn’t been his idea to wear it, but his mother insisted that he wouldn’t be going to his Junior Prom without one. It was a pale blue, going nicely with his dove grey (rented) tux, and matched his date’s dress perfectly. He looked back over at the dance floor where he had left her, saying he needed to sit for a minute, and spied her surrounded by his three friends.

El had grown so much since the night they had found her four years ago. Not just physically, though she definitely had, Mike thought with a gulp, but socially, going from a terrified twelve year old to a bright-eyed sixteen year old who could be the life of the party.

He smiled affectionately, watching as Lucas tried to teach her to moonwalk, Michael Jackson style. She almost had it, but then tripped over her heels, falling backwards and into Will and Dustin, who managed to catch her before she hit the floor. They all started laughing and Mike could imagine her giggle, light and tinkling like wind chimes on a summer breeze. She spun and swayed to the music, shoulder-length, honey-brown hair swishing around her face, the flashing lights igniting her smile.

God, she was beautiful. He wiped his sweaty palms on his pants, still not believing that after all this time she would still choose to be his friend. Ever since the first time they’d walked through the woods and she’d understood his insecurity and shared a smiled, he had known he loved her. Maybe not that exact sentiment, but he even at that young age he knew that it was impossible to imagine life without her. They had stayed close these past few years, dancing around what everyone else knew, calling each other friend but acting liking something a bit more. It was always Mike that she turned to, when the nightmares closed in and she couldn’t breathe. Whose shoulder she rested her head on when the campaign ran too long into the night, whose hand she held in the dark of the movie theater, whose lips she kissed when there were no words satisfying enough to chase away her fears. More than anything he wanted to tell her, to ask her if she would—

“Mike.”

Her voice startled him. He had been so deep in his thoughts he hadn’t noticed the music get slower and the lights dim. She was standing in front of him now, smiling, one hand reached out in invitation, and he jumped up and took it, letting her lead him back towards the dance floor.

“Enjoying the dance, Frogface?” Troy’s voice sneered at them as they passed the table he sat at with his date. El glanced at him, then Mike, clearly annoyed. Her eyebrow twitched and the cup of red (spiked) punch in Troy’s hand suddenly flew free, arcing perfectly to splatter all over him and his date. The girl shrieked at him in disbelief and Mike and El continued to stroll past, smothering snickers and grins. 

They made their way onto the dance floor and El reached up, wrapping her arms around his neck comfortably. He flushed as he set his hands on her waist, the flowy pale blue fabric of her dress swirling around their legs as they swayed. The song ended and another slow one came on, the guitar and melody familiar.

  
_ There is freedom within _

_ there is freedom without _

_ Try to catch a deluge in a paper cup _

 

He looked down at her, her eyes shut as they moved in time to the beat and his heart clenched in his chest. She was his deluge, overfilling his life in the best way. Trying to imagine what life would be like without her, if she hadn’t saved them, if she hadn’t come back that freezing February night… it hurt too much. Going back to those weeks without her, when everything was black and grey, when he felt like he was trapped in a small room that kept getting smaller, he could only hope it never came to that again.

_ There's a battle ahead _

_ many battles are lost _

_ But you'll never see the end of the road _

_ While you're traveling with me _

Almost as if she could sense him, El opened her eyes lazily, gazing up at him with those hazel-browns that could melt him in an instant. She beamed up at him, eyes dancing and curious.

“What are you thinking about?” Her voice was soft, but she tickled the back of his neck with her fingers playfully. He hesitated.

“I just can’t believe you’re here with me right now,” he murmured back, shifting his hands on her waist. Her expression grew quizzical, eyebrow raising.

“Where else would I be?” She asked, curious. He glanced away, swallowing nervously.

“In the Upside Down. In a lab somewhere.” Her eyes widened at his words and he continued quickly. “Or even worse, you could be here but… with someone else.” He saw her eyes soften and she snorted softly, shaking her head.

“Why would I want to come here with someone else?” She looked down at the floor shyly and his mouth was suddenly dry, heart thumping. “Mike, if I go anywhere, I’d want it to be with you.”

They swayed to the music as her meaning sunk in, faces flushed.

_ Hey now, hey now _

_ Don't dream it's over _

_ Hey now, hey now _

_ When the world comes in _

_ They come, they come _

_ To build a wall between us _

_ We know they won't win _

Mike racked his brain for some way, the best way, to tell her what he felt. How badly he wanted to be hers, how much he wanted to selfishly steal her away, to some place quiet and safe where he could bask in the glow that was her existence. Despite the Bad Men and the monsters and the bullies and years, they had still managed to make it here, arms wrapped around each other.

With a sudden boldness he pulled her closer to him, stooping his head to kiss her, one hand coming up to press against her shoulder blades, holding her there. She kissed him back without hesitation, fiercely, eyes closing, hands around his neck pulling him down, closer. This was different from the chaste kisses they’d shared before, given for reassurance or comfort. This kiss was full of something else, a need, a want, a question he’d been wanting to ask for months.

They parted, gasping slightly at this new discovery.

_ Now I'm walking again _

_ to the beat of a drum _

_ And I'm counting the steps to the door of your heart _

_ Only shadows ahead _

_ barely clearing the roof _

_ Get to know the feeling of liberation and relief _

“El.” His voice was barely a whisper, voice heavy, heart pounding in his ears like a drum. He looked down at her, eyes gentle but intense and stopped swaying, focused on her entirely.

“Yeah?” She whispered back, gazing up at him with an unabashed adoration. He gulped, almost losing his courage, but pressed on.

“Will… Will you go out with me? I mean like… like officially. As my girlfriend.”

The question hung between them and he cursed his awkward phrasing, hoping she understood. He watched her face shift from happy to pleased to downright ecstatic, a huge grin stretching across her face, eyes shining brightly. She nodded frantically, almost bashing her forehead into his chin.

“Mike,” she said, and god damn she’d said his name a million times but never like this, “I can’t think of anything better.” She took one of her hands off his neck and placed it on his cheek, rubbing her thumb across his freckles, tracing shapes.

He bent his head down and kissed her again, this kiss less urgent and filled with a sentiment he’d been longing to share. This time when he pulled back, he wasn’t afraid.

Reaching up to tuck stray strand of hair behind her ears, he smiled.

“I love you, El.” His voice cracked a bit, to his embarrassment, but she just laughed her tinkling wind chime laugh and tightened her grip on him, leaning her head forward to rest it on his chest as they started swaying again.

“I love you too, Mike Wheeler,” she whispered back, and there was no doubt in either of their minds that they were supposed to be anywhere but there, wrapped in each others hearts.

 

_ Hey now, Hey now _

_ Don't dream it's over _

_ Hey now, Hey now _

_ When the world comes in _

_ They come, they come _

_ To build a wall between us _

  
_ You know they won't win _

**Author's Note:**

> uggghhh my precious grown babies are so sweet. there was a lot more i wanted to add (lucas's one glove a la michael jackson, dustin drinking too much punch not knowing it's spiked, will accidentally hitting on the prom queen, etc) but i knew it would take away from the focus. maybe i'll have to do another hah.


End file.
